(The following article by Mac Daniel appeared in the Boston Globe on June 10.)
BOSTON — An apparently drunk passenger’s alleged threats to detonate a bomb on board an MBTA Red Line train partially shut down the subway and the Old Colony commuter rail line for about an hour yesterday as members of the T’s bomb squad donned protective gear to check out a backpack the man left behind.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority evacuated nearly 300 passengers from JFK-UMass station in Dorchester, delaying thousands of commuters on the Red line and the adjoining commuter rail line.
In the end, bomb squad members X-rayed the backpack and found clothing, a portable stereo, and two cans of beer, authorities said.
Eugene F. Griffin, 47, carried identification with a Lynn address when arrested, but had been staying in Hingham the night before, MBTA police said. Griffin was charged with making a false bomb threat, and more charges could be pending, said Deputy Chief John J. Mahoney.
Griffin was to be held on bail last night and arraigned this morning in Dorchester District Court.
Both the subway and commuter rail lines reopened at about 3:20 p.m., shortly before the evening rush hour.
According to Mahoney, passengers on the inbound train said the man appeared to be drunk when he pulled a wire from his backpack and said aloud: ”Don’t worry. I’m not going to blow it up here. I’ll wait till it’s in town.”
A short time later, Mahoney said, the man got off at the JFK-UMass stop and left the backpack behind. A passenger in the car notified a T employee who detained the man, stopped the train, and called police.
”He was saying, `Five years in Vietnam, and this is what they give me,’ ” said Troy Kerr, 37, of Denver, a Greyhound bus driver who witnessed the arrest.